


My Favorite Genre of Literature is Teen Romance

by NarcissusPhinea



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: (Not Just Monika), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babysitting, Baking, Because Sayori is straight, Being Sayori's Wingman, Books, Cooking, Cute, Dating, Dialogue Heavy, F/F, Femslash, First Person, Fluff, I am American trying to write Japanese, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kind of homage to the game in that way, Lesbian, Libraries, Literature, Maybe later idk, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Not a game, Not much plot, Poetry, Reading, Song references, Writing, Yeet yeet, just fluff, not horror, pls love me, slight angst maybe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 20:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13039119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarcissusPhinea/pseuds/NarcissusPhinea
Summary: Nanami (female protagonist) joins literature club for the sake of her best friend, Sayori. There might be some other benefits to this, though, especially when she and Yuri start to get closer..Sorry my summary isn't that great. It's a lesbian romance based on this game, what more could you want?(Thanks, Pewds.)CURRENTLY ON HIATUS BECAUSE I AM TERRIBLE AND UNINSPIRED





	1. Day One: The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Alright. If you get annoyed at overuse of dialogue, don't read this. It's femslash so if you don't like that, then... Why are you here? Also, sorry if I butchered the Japanese honorifics, all I have to go off of is Naruto fanfiction.  
> Otherwise, enjoy.
> 
> (Oh wow, look at me starting another story. Again. I promise I'll try harder?)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I am poor.

Having to wait for Sayori was starting to annoy me slightly. Seriously, how long could it possibly take to just put on some clothes and eat breakfast?

Sayori and I had been friends since pretty much forever. I couldn’t even remember a time I didn’t know her snot-nosed self. Despite the sass, appreciation was owed. I knew she would always have my back no matter what and it wasn’t exactly fair to paint her in a negative light, but some of her habits just got under my skin like little bugs. For one, she was always late. Always.

“Nanami-chan! Don’t leave me behind!” a shout says.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Sayori-chan.”

“You better not,” she laughed.

“Why were you late this time?”

“My alarm clock still doesn’t work.”

“Sure it doesn’t.”

“I’m serious! I need a new one, but I’m poor!”

“Then how were you able to buy that 5,500 yen jacket?”

“I needed it! I had to make a statement for the start of school, Nanami-chan.”

I somehow doubted that. It did look cute though, I had to admit.

“Of course, Sayori-hime,” I said jokingly.

“Anyway, what clubs were you thinking of joining?”

I wasn’t really, except for orchestra which was once a weekend. This year I wanted to spend my time studying and writing stories after school rather than staying at school for whatever reason. Sayori, however, was rather partial to the idea of meeting new people and trying new things.

“Well, I was thinking this year I would just skip that stuff, actually. You know I’ll probably be busy with… life or something.”

“But you proooomised..” Sayori dragged out the syllables.

“When did I do that?”

Sayori had a tendency to do whatever it took to get what she wanted. Pouting, bribing, promising things, but in all honesty, if she did get it she usually lost interest within a month or so.

“Fine! But you have to at least look at some of them and honestly consider it, Nanami-chan.”

“If you say so.”

The idea wasn’t terrible, I just didn’t know what club might be interesting enough to join.

 

After school she caught up with me before I could walk to the poster listing the different options for clubs.

“What do you want? I was going to go try to join a club, since you’re so insistent on it.”

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to literature club! It’s super fun and there are ~cookies~,” Sayori sang.

“That’s kind of coincidental, isn’t it?” I said knowingly. She probably planned this somehow.

“Just because I said I would find a new member for today doesn’t mean anything...”

That only proved my point. She was lucky I liked her so much or I wouldn’t put up with her manipulations. As it was, I had to respect her for it. Such a thing took talent.

“If you let me check the list first, then yes. I’m not promising anything though so don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

Sayori let out a victory screech, her pink hair bobbing up and down as she jumped. What a weirdo, I thought fondly.

Sadly, the list was fairly short and all over unappealing. There was only really debate club, math club, cooking club, anime club, and the many athletic activities offered. Of course that didn’t include the literature club I would scout out next.

As Sayori lead me to the classroom, she told me about the people in there. Apparently there was only three others, which explained why they were so desperate for another member. Monika ran the club, who I knew in passing from class the previous year.

I took the time to ponder the idea of making new friends. Truthfully, I did enjoy reading and writing, and I didn’t have many friends, or at least not close ones. Maybe I could make a new one from shared interests in literature. Or maybe more, my thoughts unhelpfully supplied.

Yes, I was a female who liked females. In high school there wasn’t much opportunity to meet girls with similar interests. Even Sayori didn’t know, but I wanted to tell her eventually. I knew she would support me no matter what, that wasn’t the issue. It was the matchmaking I knew would ensue.

We arrived at the door and Sayori immediately opened it.

“Hey guys! I told you I would bring a new member,” she announced smugly. The girls looked up from their place at a table. I noticed Monika but couldn’t recognize the short pink-haired girl or the taller blue-haired one sitting across from her.

“I didn’t think you could really do it. Huh,” said the pink one.

“Hello, Sayori-chan and Nanami-san.” Monika greets us as if she didn’t hear what the other girl said.

“Hi, Monika-san. How are you?” I asked, doing my best to be polite.

“I’m good, but a little surprised you came to the literature club.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to, but Sayori-chan here practically forced me to. I suppose it’s not so bad though, just not what I planned on.”

The pink-haired girl scowled at that, but quickly resumed looking at her paper and occasionally writing something down.

“Introduce yourself to Nanami-chan, won’t you?” Sayori asked them.

Monika introduces herself though I already know who she is, and Natsuki tells me her name somewhat grumpily. Yuri is polite but very quiet.

“Nice to meet you all, I’m Nanami.”

“Can you get the cookies out Natsuki-chan?”

“Yes I can!” She hopped up, actually looking excited rather than annoyed. She walked to the far side of the room and removed a large plate. As she came closer I saw that they were little cat cookies with frosting whiskers and chocolate ears.

She placed them down back at the table. I decided to go for flattery since I didn’t want to make an enemy in the first 10 minutes of being there.

“Wow! They’re so detailed. You must be good at baking, right?” I asked her.

Natsuki flushed a little, but proudly said that she did, in fact, know her way around the kitchen.

“Can I take one?”

“You better, since I apparently made these for you.”

“Arigato, Natsuki-san.”

I took a little bite from the bottom. The frosting tasted delicious and I thought I detected a bit of raspberry with the chocolate.

“This is very good!” I exclaimed.

“Thank you,” Natsuki said, seeming pleased.

Looking over I saw Yuri with a book in her hand. I decided to go try and make conversation.

“Hey, Yuri-san. What do you guys usually do in this club?”

“W-We usually talk about different types of books and sometimes we read and discuss a specific text. SInce we haven’t had this club for very long, more activities will probably be added,” Yuri said. She looked shy, avoiding direct eye contact.

“What books do you like to read?” I wanted a new friend, damn it. An ice breaker was sorely needed.

“Personally, I like reading fantasy books where the culture is deep and complex. I also like many different types of books, like horror. It’s very interesting how the author can take control of our deepest fears as well as make the story not easily predictable.” As Yuri goes on, her voice takes on more passion. It’s clear she cares a lot about this.

“N-Nanami-san, what about you?” she goes on, looking embarrassed.

“I like fantasy books as well, especially when there’s lots of supernatural elements. I can mostly read any types of fiction and enjoy it though. What do you think your favorite books are?”

Yuri looks up more, surprised I’ve continued our conversation so long, or the question I asked. It’s hard to read her since I barely know her.

“I try to read all the classics, no matter the genre. I don’t really have favorites. Do you?”

“Yeah, but it’s a long, long list. Off the top of my head, I really like ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ and the Hunger Games series. Oh, and The Book Thief!” I gained enthusiasm remembering the great book.

“I haven’t read that last one. What is it about?” Yuri said.

I explained that it was historical fiction, a summary of Nazi Germany as told by the child Liesel Meminger, with interludes from Death himself. She said she might read it if it was so good, and I nodded my head happily.

Whatever she was about to say next was cut off by Sayori loudly pointing out that Natsuki was apparently writing a poem.

“You should totally read it to us, Natsuki-chan!”

“What?! No way! That’s personal. Besides, I don’t think you’d like it anyway,” she rejected.

“She likes to write only ~cute~ things,” Sayori said by way of explanation.

“Why does that mean that we wouldn’t like it?” I asked.

Natsuki blushed and quickly said, “It’s just not a very popular writing style.” She’d probably been made fun of for it, which I understood.

“I can understand her not wanting us to read it,” Yuri spoke up. “It takes a lot of confidence in your writing to share it with other people. To know that even if they don’t like it, you do. I think it takes a lot of time to get to that point.”

Monika chose that moment to interject. “Do you write poetry, Yuri-san? Maybe you could share it and make Natsuki-san more comfortable about her own, hmm?”

“I.. Don’t really think I’d like to do that, I’m terribly sorry.”

“I have an idea,” I said. “Maybe tonight we should all write a poem and share it tomorrow. It's different than sharing something we write for ourselves, but it will get us more comfortable with each other, right?”

“That’s a great idea, actually, Nanami-san,” Monika said, and Sayori made a noise of assent. The other two looked vaguely approving, Yuri slightly less than Natsuki.

“Okay, it’s decided then. Each of us will write about a page of poetry on any subject, and let others read it next meeting. Got it?”

Affirmatives echoed for a moment, and then we split up again. I asked Sayori what she would write about, and she said she would just wait until inspiration struck her. I shared similar sentiments, because I really wasn’t sure what to write about just yet, so maybe music would inspire me.

The next ten minutes passed quickly through idle conversation. When it was time to go, I grabbed my bag and waved goodbye. Sayori and I walked home like we used to, before she started the club. We hadn’t been able to much that year because I got out of school earlier than her.

“So what did you think of it?” she asked me.

“I liked it a lot, actually.” I was surprised by how fun it was, even not doing much. “I guess I know what club I’m joining now.”

She grinned and I answered with a smile of my own. When I got home, I ended up listening to The Last Unicorn soundtrack and scribbling in my notebook. It wasn’t the first time I was writing something like poetry, but there was a little more pressure knowing that I would have to parade it around in the club the following day.


	2. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what Nanami wrote, which the other characters will 'react' to in the next chapter. I thought it was important enough to get its own chapter, I guess.

Poems by Nanami:

Down Below, Far Above

A canary screeches but it’s too late  
The smoke dyes your lungs ash grey  
Does it matter, I wonder  
When your teeth were broken with diamonds anyway

Peasant’s Lottery

The water is dirty.  
I vomit out my eyes,  
My blood is thickening in my veins.  
My family’s been visited too,  
But they’re not at death’s door.   
I take another sip and pray.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I wrote these myself as you can tell. I'll eventually write the other characters' poems as well, since there's only so many canon ones, and even less since I'm taking out the weird ones. I wrote the second one about cholera, which Nanami will reference in the second (real) chapter. 'Peasant's Lottery' refers to how it's third world countries that get it, because it's not actually that bad of a disease. If you have any questions about what I was thinking when I wrote them then let me know.


	3. Day Two, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second day. As you can see, I used all of their first day poems as well as the ones I wrote for Nanami.  
> Some fluff and general fun. Made me 'squee' inside, so maybe it'll do that for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyyyyyyyyy  
> Thanks so much to the people that commented.. It made me feel really loved. My friends were subjected to a whole rant from me, in fact, though I don't know if they appreciated that.   
> ONWARDS!

In the morning my alarm went off and announced the start of a new day. I went through the motions blearily and half awake: putting on clothes, brushing my hair, shoveling some fruit into my mouth. Finally I was awake enough to pack my things for school and meet up with Sayori outside.

We walked the whole way in near silence, but it wasn’t bad. I was happy and so was she.

“See you at lunch, Nanami-chan.”

“See you.”

 

The school day felt too long, but towards the end I felt myself looking forward to literature club. Just a day before, I didn’t want to be part of one at all, but the experience made me hopeful that I could make meaningful bonds with these people. Plus, reading and writing wasn’t exactly a punishment.

Following the path Sayori lead me through previously, I made my way to the third floor room housing the club. I knocked and the door was quickly opened to reveal Natsuki. Looking around I saw that Monika hadn’t arrived yet.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hi, Nanami-san,” Yuri replied.

I was about to continue the conversation when Monika finally arrived, looking a little hurried. Natsuki asked where she’d been. I agreed but didn’t speak up - it was a little odd that the leader of the club wouldn’t be on time.

“I’ve been at the study hall. I didn’t notice the bell go off,” she explained.

Natsuki sounded skeptical. “So you were just enjoying studying so much that you didn’t even hear the alarm?”

“Well, yes. I was practicing piano..”

“Oh! You play piano, Monika-san?” Yuri asked.

“I mean, not really? I just started teaching myself and I’m not very good at it yet,” Monika said shyly.

They talked a little bit more, with Monika just generally being embarrassed but flattered.

“So are we gonna do this poem thing?” Natsuki sounds impatient.

“Yes, we are, Natsuki-chan!” Sayori says.

Monika straightened out and told us to get out our poems then pick a person to ‘trade’ with. Then we could give feedback and move on to the next person.

I approached Sayori with my paper in hand. I cocked my head in a silent question. She just smiled and met me by a desk.

“Do you want to read mine first?”

“Sure, Nanami-chan,” she accepted.

I felt a bit of anxiety as her eyes swept over my short paragraphs. It was fine, but I couldn’t bite back the instinctual nervousness.

“Can you guess what the second one is about?” I asked. The answer was cholera - aka why I shouldn’t be allowed to watch youtube documentaries while writing.

“I think it’s about a disease? It’s kind of depressing, but I love your writing!” I smiled at her response.

“You got it. And thanks! I know they’re short.”

“No, that’s totally fine. Quality over quantity, right? Anyway, now you have to read mine,” she said. Out of her bag came a lined sheet with a slight stain and very messy handwriting. Sayori was only lucky I could read her writing at its worst..  


_Dear Sunshine_

 

_The way you glow through my blinds in the morning_

_It makes me feel like you missed me._

_Kissing my forehead to help me out of bed._

_Making me rub the sleepy from my eyes._

 

_Are you asking me to come out and play?_

_Are you trusting me to wish away a rainy day?_

_I look above. The sky is blue._

_It's a secret, but I trust you too._

 

_If it wasn't for you, I could sleep forever._

_But I'm not mad._

 

 _I want breakfast._  


 

… Huh.

“Well? What do you think?” she asked me once she saw I was done reading.

“It’s.. It’s very light-hearted. I like the descriptions,” I offered. “It’s nice.”

“Are you sure? You looked pretty unsure just a second ago.”

“Yes! Very certain, Sayori-chan!” I assured. "I just have to ask though.. Did you write this in the morning?”

“..Yes. How did you know?”   
  
“The last line.”

“Oh. Well I’m glad you liked it, anyway,” she sighed. “I guess we should find a new partner now?”

“Yup. Goodbye, Sayori-san. I’ll miss you forever,” I said, fake-solemn, hands clasped in front of me. I hoped she wasn’t actually upset about my reaction to her poem. She giggled and I smiled in relief before turning away.

The next person I approached was Natsuki.

“Hi, Natsuki-san. How are you today?”

“I’m okay, but can you quit being so formal? We’re in the same club, that makes us _friends_.” Her harsh tone made it clear I couldn’t disagree, not that I would want to anyway.

“Alright.. Natsuki-chan. In that case, can I see your poem?” I asked. She handed me a neat little section of writing and seemed to steel herself in case I hated it.

 

_Eagles Can Fly_

 

_Monkeys can climb_

_Crickets can leap_

_Horses can race_

_Owls can seek_

_Cheetahs can run_

_Eagles can fly_

_People can try_

_But that's about it_

 

As my eyes scanned it, I found myself impressed. It was just kind of clever in an obvious way, but that didn’t detract from its meaning. I told Natsuki so.

To my surprise, she blushed. “Yeah. I really like this style, where you don’t have to be distracted by a bunch of flowery metaphors. It’s just there, you know?”

“Yes! This is top notch work here, Natsuki-chan. I can only hope mine doesn’t fall flat of these high expectations,” I teased. I was glad she decided to call us friends, even if it was clear she expected me to protest somehow. Which, to be honest, was kind of depressing - which is why I decided to hold off on those thoughts until later.

I put my paper in her hands and waited somewhat awkwardly for her to finish reading. If she didn’t like it, she was liable to be much more vocal about it, especially since she seemed like the ‘tsundere’ type.

“This is pretty good, actually.” She sounded a little surprised. I made a conscious decision to not be offended. “I like the rhyming and how abstract it is, but the first one probably should be a bit  longer.”

“That’s fair,” I said neutrally. “Thanks, though. They’re random, but I actually kind of liked them this time, as far as a poem written in a single day goes.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, now it’s time to go find someone else to read these,” she said. I nodded and turned around.

Nearest to me was Yuri, who seemed to notice this as well, smiling at me slightly. As we met I placed my paper on the desk in the middle of us.

“Hey, Yuri-san. Did you have a good day?” Her blush made _me_ blush for some unfathomable reason.

“Yes I did, Nanami-san.”

Something came over me. I felt a little bit giddy, and entirely too brave.

“Well alright then!” I said proudly. “Yuri- _san_ , may I read your poem?” I don’t know why I was being so.. _Silly,_ but I got down on my knees and grasped her hand like an ancient knight. I was half a mind to kiss it before I shook the thought out of my head. What the heck?

There was no way that would go down well. In Japan, lesbians were barely tolerated, or treated like they were men on the inside, which I was not. Not that there was an issue with transgenders, of course.

To be fair, Yuri was very pretty, and just my type. That is to say, she was intelligent and a little shy. I didn’t have much experience, of course, but I figured I knew what I liked.

Whoops.

Well, I salvaged it best I could with a tilt of my head and my eyes screaming “THIS IS JUST PLATONIC I PROMISE.”

She smiled and said, “Of course, Nanami-san. Here it is.” Yuri sobered up slightly when she handed it to me, but didn’t appear too worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Natsuki more friendly since they're both girls (not to say that she's necessarily hetero, but you get the idea).  
> Left it on a bit of a cliffhanger, though not much so I don't feel guilty.


End file.
